Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/823

��An attempt to complete Vallotti's great work was made after his death by his disciple and successor, P. Luigi Antonio Sabbatini ; 1 and his system of teaching was continued by his talented, but somewhat eccentric pupil, the Abb< Vogler. [W.S.R.]

VAN BREE, J. B. Add that he wrote seve- ral masses and other works beside those men- tioned in the article.

VAN DER EEDEN, G. See also vol. ii. p. 450 J, where the date of his death is given as June 29, 1782.

VAN OS, ALBERT, called 'Albert the Great,' is the earliest known organ-builder. He was a priest, and built the organ of St. Nicholas at Utrecht in uao. [V. de P.]

VARNEY, PIERRE JOSEPH ALPHONSE, born in Paris, Dec. I, 1811, was educated at the Conservatoire as a violinist, and was a pupil of Reicha's for composition. He was successively conductor at the Theatre historique, the Theatre lyrique, at Ghent, the Hague, Rouen, the Bouffes Parisiens, and at Bordeaux (1865-78). Several short operas and operettas of slight construction by him were brought out at the various places where he worked. He is best known as having furnished the music for the celebrated Chant des Girondins, ' Mourir pour la Patrie,' the words of which were by Dumas, and which played so important a part in the revolution of 1848. Varney died in Paris Feb. 7, 1879. [M.]

VATERLANDISCHE KUNSTLERVE- RE1N (Society of Artists of the Fatherland). A name which has become famous through Beet- hoven's op. 1 20. 'The Fatherland' here means Austria. Schindler (Life of Beethoven, ii. 34) says that in the winter of 1822-3, the publishing firm of Diabelli & Co. in Vienna formed a plan for issuing a collective set of variations for the pianoforte. No fewer than 51 composers, among whom were the first Viennese masters of the time, 2 consented to contribute to the collection, which was published in two large oblong books (No. 1380-81) under the title of Vaterlandische Kiinstlerverein, Veranderungen iiber ein vor- gelegtes Thema, componirt von den vorzuglichsten Tonsetzern und Virtuosen Wiens und der k. k. oesterreichischen Staaten.' (' Society of Artists of the Fatherland. Variations on a given theme, written by the most prominent composers and performers of Vienna and the Imperial States of

1 SABBATINI, P. LUIGI ANTONIO, was a native of Padua, and a pupil of P. Martini, under whom he studied, tor some time, at Bologna. He completed his musical education, however, in his native town under P. Vallotti, whom he succeeded, about the year 1780, as Maestro di Cappella at the Church of S. Antony at Padua ; and whose system he endeavoured to perpetuate in a work entitled ' La vera Idea delle Musicall Numeriche Segnature ' (Venice. 1799). He also wrote a ' Trattato sopra le Fughe Musical),' In two vols. (Venice. 1802), illustrated by an exhaustive selection of Fugal Sub- jects and Devices culled from Vallotti's Compositions for the Church ; and another theoretical work, entitled, ' Element! teorici e pratici dl Musica' (Roma. 1790). His best Composition was a Mass, written for the Funeral of Jommelli. He died at Padua in 1809.

The editor is indebted to Dr. A. L. Peace, of Glasgow, for the use of a fine copy of the two first-named works, which are now very difficult to procure, and for that of the rare and perfect copy of Vallotti's work which forms the subject of the present notice.

2 It is carious that the names of Sej fried and Weigl are not In the list.

��Austria.') It is an indication of the position held by Beethoven among the musicians of Vienna, that the whole of the first book is taken up with his variations, 33 in number, while the other 50 composers are represented by a single varia- tion each. Beethoven's composition has the separate title : ' 33 Veranderungen iiber einen Walzer fur das Pianoforte componirt und der Frau Antonia von'Brentano, gebornen Edlen von Birkenstock, hochachtungsvoll zugeeignet von Ludwig van Beethoven. 120 Werk. Wien bey Cappi und Diabelli.' The work was published in June 1823. On the i6th of the month the fol- lowing notice appeared in the ' Oesterreichisch Kaiserliche priviligirte Wiener Zeitung ' : ' We offer to the world in this work no variations of the ordinary kind, but a great and important masterpiece, worthy of being ranked with the immortal creations of the classical composers of past times, and of a kind that could be pro- duced by none but Beethoven, the greatest living representative of true art. The most original forms and ideas, the boldest passages and har- monies, are here exhausted, all such character- istic pianoforte effects as are founded upon a solid style are employed, and a further interest attaches to the work from the circumstance that it is founded upon a theme which would not have been supposed capable of such treatment as our great master, alone among our contem- poraries, could give it. The splendid fugues, Nos. 24 and 32, will delight every lover of the grave style, while Nos. 6, 16, 17, 23, etc., will charm brilliant performers; in short all these variations, by the novelty of ideas, the skill of their workmanship, and the artistic beauty of their transitions, can claim a place beside Seb. Bach's well-known masterpiece in the same kind. We are proud of the opportunity of presenting this composition to the public, and have devoted the greatest care to combining elegance of print- ing with the utmost correctness.'

The original manuscript of op. 120 is in the possession of Herr C. A. Spina of Vienna. In- teresting information concerning the sketches for the composition is given in Nottebohm's 'Zweite Beethoveniana,' Leipzig, 1887. Beet- hoven was fond of presenting copies of the printed work to his friends, and the writer pos- sesses two such copies with autograph dedica- tions.

The second book of the variations appeared in the latter half of 1823 or early in 1824. Anton Diabelli, the composer and publisher, had mean- while dissolved partnership with Cappi, and the name of the firm was now A. Diabelli & Co.' As in the first book (Beethoven's portion) so here the theme by Diabelli precedes the variations. It consists of 32 bars, and, although of slight importance in itself, is well fitted for variation- writing. The waltz is followed by 50 variations, as follows : (i) Ignatz Assmayer ; (2) Carl Maria von Booklet; (3) Leopold Eustache Czapek ; (4) Carl Czerny ; (5) Joseph Czerny ; (6) Moritz Graf Dietrichstein ; (7) Joseph Drechsler ; (8) A. Emanuel Forster (' his last